The Cenderawasih Military Command overseeing Papua and West Papua will charge five Army soldiers for selling ammunition to a separatist group in Papua.

The military command’s chief, Maj. Gen. Fransen G. Siahaan, said in Jayapura on Thursday that based upon preliminary evidence, the ammunition sales were financially motivated.

“The five suspects have been already in hands of the military police and will be brought to the military tribunal. I have asked the military tribunal to impose the harshest sanction, or a life sentence, on the suspects,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added he was establishing an ethics council from the Wamena military district to dismiss the suspects, along with three others, from military service.

“I do not want to see any traitors in the military command. The suspects have sold ammunition to shoot me, to shoot security personnel, to shoot us [...] They must be dismissed and punished with the harshest sentence,” he said.

The five suspects, identified as S, MM, RA, S and NHS, were arrested while in the process of selling 500 5.56 millimeter bullets to three rebels on Jan. 28, 2015. (rms)

Across the archipelago, Labora Sitorus is known as a low-ranking police officer with a Rp 1.5 trillion bank account who has been convicted of a crime, yet manages to defy the law and walk free.

To law enforcement officers, he is a money launderer, fuel stockpiler and illegal logger who has used his network to evade a Supreme Court sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of Rp 5 billion.

The Papua Prosecutor’s Office has requested help from the military and police to prevent “unwanted occurrences” when, or if, the arrest of Labora occurs.

In the meantime, the man remains on a wanted list and has been issued with a travel ban by the Attorney General’s Office.

After walking out of Sorong Penitentiary in March last year, Labora returned home to his wife and children at the PT Rotua housing complex in Tampa Garam village, Rufei Coast, Sorong, West Papua.

He lives with dozens of his employees in a workers’ dorm at the 7-hectare complex.

Hendrik Wambraku, a local resident who works for Labora, regards his boss as a savior.

“When someone is facing economic hardship, they run to Pak Labora,” said Hendrik, adding that the police officer had helped many people with funds for education, health and food.

His complex can only be accessed via an entrance protected around the clock by private security guards.

Labora’s house is located around 300 meters from the entrance, next to the timber-processing factory.

On Wednesday afternoon, several dogs were seen roaming around the house compound and another five dogs were kept in a cage in front of the house.

Labora’s office is located on the second floor, where he greets his guests, as well as using it as living quarters. The company provides daily afternoon and evening meals for its 500 workers. Labora and his family eat the same food as his employees, who earn salaries above the monthly West Papua minimum wage of Rp 2 million (about US$160).

New workers and trainees earn Rp 3 million, while permanent workers earn between Rp 6 million and Rp 25 million monthly.

Migrants who move their families to Papua live in the dorm and each is provided with a motorcycle.

Labora, who is married to Sandrintje Panahue, has five children. Four of them attended university — three of them at medical school, while the youngest is still in senior high school.

“The children are not disturbed by the case facing their father, because all of them know who their father really is,” said Sandrintje.

An hour later, Labora appeared. “I’ve just been overseeing my workers,” he said casually.

Labora buys local timber from residents at between Rp 4 million and Rp 6 million per cubic meter and buys up to 60 m3 of timber daily.

“When I’m fit, I help my workers in the factory. I carried out my activities until I was placed on the wanted list by the prosecutors,” he said.

Despite being wanted by the authorities, Labora still believes he is innocent.

“I buy timber from residents in processed form, not whole logs. My company is a secondary industry. You can see for yourself whether there are logs here,” he said.

According to Labora, his case has been completely engineered, from his dossier to the charges levelled against him.

“I have strong evidence [in my favor], but the legal institutions in the country uphold this legal engineering. Who can I turn to? I don’t know what will happen next. I’m really confused,” he said.

Labora was convicted by the Sorong District Court and sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 500 million. He filed multiple appeals, but all were rejected, resulting in him receiving a heavier sentence.

He left Sorong Penitentiary in March last year seeking medical treatment, but never returned.

While requesting help from other law enforcers to act against Labora, Sorong prosecutors have yet to make a move to re-arrest the convict for fear of their safety.

The Iyakoko Patea (IP) choir from Timika, located in the nation’s easternmost province, has been performing Papuan folk songs to acclaim both in Indonesia and abroad.The choir, which takes its name from the Amungme-Kamoro language, was established in 2006 with 50 members, most of whom had no voice training and could not read music.

“Mostly, they are working as employees with a keenness to hone and channel their new hobby as singers,” said conductor and co-founders Maradong Simanjuntak after a recent performance.

Simanjuntak described the choir’s creation as difficult. “It was a long process and took patience to hone and formulate their singing abilities. As a first step, they were just introduced to a series of sounds, tones, harmonies and dynamics.”

The hard work has paid off, he adds.

“A lot of people are attracted to join the Iyakoko Patea Choir because they have watched firsthand while watching performances in various events,” Simanjuntak says. “They watched how the Iyakoko Patea presented 20 typical folk songs of Papua with alluring professional rhythm accompanied by dynamic movements in accordance with the distinctive culture of Papua.”

Simanjuntak, who studied under Katamsi Aning, Ronal Pohan, Aida Swenson Simanjuntak and Catherine Leimena, said that the songs were typically accompanied by dances inspired by the animals of the province.

The songs touch traditional topics. The Amungme folk song “Amungme Ih”, for instance, is a plea to God and people for peace and harmony, while the choir also performs the Kamoro folk song “Nuru ai pa ni”, a song of desperately longing for home and family.

The movements and dances sometimes imitate or evoke the flapping wings of a bird of paradise, the spearing of fish, the cutting of trees, or the rowing of boats.

Sometimes, the choir imitates the movements of the rocking hips of a cassowary; other times they present the tup ritual of the Amungme people of Timika, running while dancing and circling, accompanied by shouts to symbolize a call to come together and give encouragement.

Ferdinand Deda, from Sentani, Papua, is one of the choir’s coordinators as well as a co-founder.

He said that the men’s and women’s clothing differed, while headdresses reflected the peoples of the coast and the mountains.

Adorning headdresses with feathers from birds of paradise was typical of the coastal areas, while those of mountainous regions chose cassowary bird feathers.

“In addition, the neck and chest ornaments are also different. Neck and chest ornaments are made of large and small shells, and there are also parts of birds such as feathers, nails and beaks, and colorful beads,” said Ferdinand.

The choir also practiced different body painting rituals.

For songs of the Kamoro, who come from coastal areas, fish and marine motif are used; while Biak songs need white, red and black motifs and Amungme songs call for earth tones.

When singing and dancing they also always wear waist ornaments, with some of the women donning tassel skirts made of dry grass or dry bark, while the men would wear koteka penis sheaths while singing the folk song of the Amungme.

While singing, they dance holding spears and shields that are carved from wood.

Simanjuntak said that audiences were responsive. “It’s like [finding] a new food that is tasty or seeing exciting new fashions. Of course, people are very fascinated and amazed. This truly happened when we performed in Jakarta, Singapore, and even Latvia.”

While the choir performed at the APEC Women’s Summit in Bali in 2013, Simanjuntak says the most unforgettable experience was when the group was invited to the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia.

“We obtained the gold medal in the category of folk songs,” he said. “At the same time, we also gained a silver medal for mixed chamber choir. At least 25,000 spectators watched IP’s performance, and even it was broadcast live TV.”

4) RH Petrogas gets green light for West Papua field development in Indonesia

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RH Petrogas has announced that the Plan of Development (POD) for the North Klalin gas and condensate field in the Kepala Burung PSC, West Papua, Indonesia, has been approved by SKK Migas (Satuan Kerja Khusus Minyak dan Gas)

The additional gas production from the North Klalin field will be used to supplement internal fuel requirement for operation as well as to meet additional demand for gas in the local markets and to support the economic development around the Sorong area in West Papua

The POD was submitted following the discovery made by the North Klalin- 1 well in 2011 and the successful appraisal by the North Klalin- 2 and 3 wells in subsequent years.

North Klalin-1, 2 and 3 wells have since been put on production.

The POD programme involves the drilling of four new development wells and the construction of flowlines tying back to existing production facilities within the basin block.

The additional gas production from the North Klalin field will be used to supplement internal fuel requirement for operation as well as to meet additional demand for gas in the local markets and to support the economic development around the Sorong area in West Papua.

“With the POD approval, the North Klalin field can now move into full field development,” said Francis Chang, RH Petrogas chief executive officer. “In view of the steep drop in oil prices which hit the oil and gas industry in recent months, we are currently discussing with our partners on the best strategy to implement the POD. We believe that given the current environment where many E&P companies are expected to cut back or defer on their capital expenditures, there may be opportunities for us to lower the cost of development for North Klalin should there be an easing of demand for drilling and other contracting services in the region.”

The company, through its subsidiaries Petrogas (Basin) Limited and RHP Salawati Basin B.V., has an aggregate 60 per cent working interest in the PSC. The other partners are PetroChina International (Bermuda) Ltd. (30 per cent) and PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (10 per cent).

The consortium, as contractor of Indonesian government operating under the supervision of SKK Migas, has actively explored and produced oil and gas in the working area.